Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has again proved the pressure of the spotlight and overwhelming scrutiny is no concern, showing signs of what he can do as an NRL fullback before switching to the same role in rugby.
The walking headline of the past week, Suaalii did his talking on the field on Thursday night as he had a hand in three Sydney Roosters tries in their 28-20 win over Parramatta.
The performance came amid a switch from centre to fullback mid-match, after James Tedesco was left concussed by a high shot.
Suaalii has long been linked to the No.1 jersey, having played there in the World Cup for Samoa last year and sitting in fullback meetings at the Roosters.
It's also expected he will play fullback on his transition to the 15-man game in 2025, after his switch was confirmed last week.
That cross-code switch has been met with a wave of controversy, including calls from Phil Gould for him to move on immediately for the good of the NRL.
But at Allianz Stadium, Suaalii proved he still has plenty to offer rugby league.
He stepped past Mitch Moses to put the Roosters on the attack for one try, set up another with a flick pass and then helped make the most of an overlap to lay on a third.
"We felt like we supported him well this week, but you can burn a lot of energy thinking about a lot of stuff in a week like that," coach Trent Robinson said.
"And he had a lot of energy tonight. So he didn't burn all of it thinking about external stuff. He was able to handle that.
"To go from centre to fullback, know the role of that position and continue right through to the end, it was a credit to him."
It's not the first time Suaalii has had all eyes on him.
His debut in 2021 was one of the most anticipated in years, after he had been lured to the Roosters from Souths and given an exemption to run out before his 18th birthday.
He played finals football last year as an 18-year-old, and switched to fullback in that game also with Joey Manu again out and Tedesco suffering a concussion.
But Thursday night against the Eels marked a far more complete performance at the back.
"In that semi-final last year when Ted left, he came in and we were a little all over the shop," five-eighth Luke Keary said.
"We couldn't get him in.
"Tonight we had one or two sets where it was, what's going on. And then we had a stoppage and he was terrific after that.
"He was moving, connected. He was moving the line in defence. He popped up all over the field."
